Congressman Austin Scott is in his sixth term as the U.S. Representative for Georgia's Eighth Congressional District. His committee assignments include the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, both vitally important to Georgia and the Eighth District. He is known as a respected voice on national security and agriculture issues and a fierce fighter for Georgia’s military installations and rural communities.
Washington continues to spend at unsustainable levels. That is why I voted against H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act when it passed Congress on January 1, 2013. This plan does not address the real driver of our debt – spending. President Obama's unwillingness to address this continues to cripple our efforts to find a long-term solution. We cannot tax our way out of this fiscal situation.
The President himself has said on multiple occasions that spending cuts must be part of the solution. In fact, on April 13, 2011 he remarked, "So any serious plan to tackle our deficit will require us to put everything on the table, and take on excess spending wherever it exists in the budget." However, his words have seldom matched his actions.
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to make the tough choices and devise a long-term solution that gets our economy back on track and reduces our deficits. I remain hopeful that the President will join us in this effort.